Life-saving apparatus



M. FIELD AND H. A. SCHLIEK.

LIFE SAVING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED sEPLzs. |918.

Patented May 20, 1919.

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MARTIN FIELD AND HARRY A SCI-ILIEK, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

LIFE-SAVING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 20, 1919.

Application led September 25, 1918. Serial No.. 255,630.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that we, MARTIN FIELD and HARRY A.SCHLIEK, citizens of the United States, and residents of the city ofChicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Life-Saving Apparatus, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to life saving appli- 'ances and moreparticularly to a small portable vessel in which one person may inclosehimself 4and be sheltered from the elements and rough sea that may berunning. The device is also provided with facilities for propelling it,as well as steering gear for directing its course and means forventilating it and for permitting the person sheltered therein toobserve his surroundings within a substantially wide range.

One of the objects of our invention is to provide a structure that iscapable of being made in an economical manner and in a collapsible formso that it may be folded together and stored in a relatively sm'allspace upon a vessel. We prefer to accomplish the divers objects of ourinvention by the means `and in the manner hereinafter more fullydescribed and as more particularly pointed out in the claims, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawing that forms a part of thisspecification, in which,-

Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section of our life savingappliance.

Fig. 2 is a greatly enlarged view in partial section and elevation,showing the manner of constructing the overlapping or telescoping parts.

Y In the drawings we have employed similar reference characters todesignate the same parts in both the views. By referring to Fig. 1, itwill be observed the body of the appliance is of an ovoid or egg shape,

consisting of a main hull plate 5 that is substantially semi-ellipticalin longitudinal section, and an upper hull plate 6 that forms acontinuation of the lower plate, in the manner shown, the two platesbeing joined at the meeting edges by means of an internal band 7. Thesetwo plates form a permanent hull of the contour shown and provide acompartment or chamber within which the occupant may seat himselfconveniently. For this purpose we provide a platform 8 that is mountedupon suitable brackets 9 and opposite sides of the hull adjacent thebottom or keel thereof, said platsaid shaft and the tubular embossmentis provided with a stuffing-box 13 to prevent leakage therethrough. Theinner end of the propeller shaft is provided with a miter gear 14 thatmeshes with a horizontally disposed larger miter gear 15 secured uponthe lower end of a vertical or pendent arbor 16. The arbor 16 is carriedby a suitable cross-bar 17 that extends from the port to the starboardside of the hull and the miter gear 15 preferably has its boss providedwith a balance wheel or counterweight 18. The miter gear 15 is actuatedby means of and oscillatory hand lever 19, pivoted at its lower end on alug 20` arising from the platform 8 and which is connected to the mitergear 15 by a pitman or connecting rod 21, as shown. The operating lever19 is provided with a projection 22 and the pitman 21 is removablyconnected therewith by providing a hook-shaped end 23 on the same sothat when not in use, the hook may be lifted olf the projection and thepitman and operating lever laid down flat upon the floor of the boat.

A suitable rudder bracket 24, of substantially U-shape, extendsoutwardly from the stern of the vessel and the rudder 25 has its spindle26 extended through suitable apertures in said frame 2-1, while at itsupper end it is provided with a cross-arm 27 to the ends `of which thesteering cable 28 is secured. This steering cable passes around theinterior of the hull and is supported and guided in suitable rings 29mounted upon the lower hull plate 5, and in order to facilitate theoperation of said steering cable, we provide suitable grips 30 uponopposite sides so that they will be within convenient reach of theoccupant ofthe boat.4

In order to protect the occupant from the elements, we .prefer todeck-over or cover the vessel heretofore described by providing asuitable collapsible deck or cover. This comprises a rpluralityofcollapsible or telescopic ring sections or plates 31 and 32 of a dish orbowl shape, havingv no bottoms or tops, and adapted to coperate witheach other and with the hull of the boat in a manner similarl to theoperation of the ordinary collapsible drinking cup. In order to preventleakage of water that may wash over the vessel, we have designed theseplates in the manner illustrated in the enlarged detail (Fig. 2),wherein it will be observed Athe plate 32 has its lower edge bent aroundto form a substantially round bead 33 and. the upper edge of the plate31 is deflected outwardly as at 34, to pass outside. ofthe bead 33 :andat its uplper edge is turned inwardly to form a corresponding bead 35 ofa diameter substantially the same as the d1- ameter ofthe bead 33 whichis disposed below .the same, and the diameter of the narrofwest portionof the lower section or ring 3l is lessthan the diameter of the widestportion of the upper vsection or ring 32. We prefer to cover these beadswith suitable packing 36, such as rubber or the like, 1n order that thepoints of contact may be rendered less susceptible to leakage and itwill be observed that the rubber 36 on the bead 35 extends away from thebead and contacts with a portion of the rubber upon the bead 36, asshown at in the drawing, and the lower edge of this rubber sheet beingeX- tended down below the lower edge of the bead 33. This insures agreater area of contact between the members, thereby rendering thejoints more watertight.

Suitable port holes 37 are provided in the plate 32 and are fitted withglass so that the occupant may observe his surroundings therethrough. Inorder that the structure may be supported in the position shown in Fig.l, inother words, ready for occupancy, we provide four toggles 38, 38connected to lugs 39 disposed equi-distant around the upper edge of theplate 32, which have their lower ends pivotally connected to lugs 40arising from the platform or seat 8, heretofore mentioned. `The lowerends of the upper members of the toggles have projections 41 that strikeagainst the adjacent portions of the lower members of the toggles toprevent their movement in a reverse direction after the two members ofthe toggles have been brought into alinement. In order to prevent thecollapsing of the toggles, we provide suitable struts 42 for each of thefront and rear Vpairs of toggles, said struts being pivo-tally connectedto the forward pair and having their rear ends engage recesses 43 madein the facing` portions of the lower ends of the toggles. i

The structure thus far described provides a suitable chamber withinwhich the occupant may steer and propel the vessel, as well as observehis surroundings outside of the boat, and a suitable hatchway is closedby a hinged cover 44 in the central or outer.V

most portion of which we have provided Ventilating means which consistof a vertical pipe 45 having a hook-shaped upper end 46 and lateralmembers 47, to the outer ends of which are connected vertical J-shapedpipes 48 so that, as much as possible, the wash from a heavy7 sea willdrain 0H and be prevented from entering the pipes forming saidVentilating devices and drip therefrom into the boat.

Vhen not in use, the operating lever is vreleased from the pitman andfolded flat upon the Hoor; the strut 42 is pushed out of its engagingrecess and the toggles 38 are broken at their joints and folded down,thus permitting the entireV structure above the hull, in other words,above plates 5 and 6, to be collapsed and deposited within the hull. Ifdesired, the collapsed vessel may be covered with suitable tarpaulin orcanvas to prevent the rain and other elements from entering the sameduring stormy weather.

It will be understood that this appliance is not designed for thepurposeV of holding a lai-ge number of persons, it being essentially forthe use of one person, who, upon occupying the vessel, may close thesame tightly and escape thedangers of capsizing in rough seas and at thesaine time have ventilation and be able to propel or steer his vesselfor a considerable period until rescued. While we have hereinillustrated and described a particular manner of carrying out ourinvention, it, of course, will be understood that divers modificationsthereof may 'be made without materially departing from the principlesinvolved in our invention, and it will also be understood that thevessel may be made of larger dimensions and be provided with motivepower for driving the propeller. We desire it understood that all suchobvious modifications are contemplated as being included within thescope of our invention as expressedl in the appended claims.

What we claim as new is l. A life saving appliance comprising al hullthe side walls whereof converge inwardly toward their-tops and providean opening of less dimension than the greatest width and length of saidhull, in combination with means for closing said opening consisting of aplurality of substantially bowl-shaped ringlike plates of decreasingdiameters toward the top and fitted within each other in a substantiallytelescopic manner, a plurality of foldable uprights supporting thetopmost of said plates, and a hinged door closing the opening at the topof the uppermost plate.

2. A life saving appliance comprising a suitable hull, a housing or decktherefor consisting of a plurality of intertting collapsible sectionsthe lower edge of the lowermost section coacting with the upper edge ofsaid hull, hinged foldaible braces adapted to support said sections inextended position, and means for locking said braces in position.

.3. A life saving appliance comprising a suitable hull, the upper edgewhereof is provided with an overturned bead, and a collapsible deckcovering the open portion of said hull consisting of a plurality ofcircular plates of frustum conical shape the meeting edges whereof areprovided with coacting beads that prevent the outward movement of saidplates beyond predetermined distances and permit of the collapsing andstorage of said deck within the hull, and means for supporting said deckin extended position.

4. A life saving appliance comprising a compartment the lower portionsof the walls whereof are rigid and the upper portions of said walls areinterengaging and collapsible, and folda'ble means pivotally mountedupon the rigid portion of said compartment walls and adapted to beextended to support the collapsible portions of said walls in coaotiverelation with each other and with said rigid wall portion.

5. A life saving appliance comprising a compartment the walls whereofare composed of a rigid section .and a plurality of collapsible sectionscoacting therewith, the coacting edges of all said sections beingprovided with beads that prevent the separation of said sections, andextensible supports for retaining the collapsible sections in extendedposition.

6. A life saving appliance comprising a Copies of this patent may beobtained for plurality of collapsible frustum conical hollow sectionsthe lower edge of each section provided 'with a rolled-back portion toprovide an annular bead, the adjacent upper edge of each sectionprovided with a similar bead and positioned above the first mentionedbead, a gasket surrounding said firstmentioned bead, and a similargasket partially surrounding the last described bead and having itslower portion partially spaced away from the adjacent surface of itssection and in contact with the adjacent bead upon the coacting section.

7. In a life saving appliance a suitable hull, a closure for the openportion thereof arching above said hull and consisting of a plurality ofseparate interfitting annular members adapted to be collapsed and stowedentirely within said hull, said members being so constructed as to beincapable of removal from said hull, and foldable braces the extensionof which is adapted to elevate the members of said closure from withinthe hull and position them above the same whereby said closure membersand said hull provide a water-tight compartment.

Signed at Chicago, county of Cook and State of Illinois, this 21st dayof September, 1918.

MART-IN FIELD. HARRY A. SCHLIEK.

Witnesses:

E. N. LUNDY, Jr., J. H. JOOHUM, Jr.

ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents Washington. 2Q,

